India's 7.5% growth may be overstated; PM Modi slow in pushing reforms: US

Washington: Underlining that India's 7.5 percent growth rate may be "overstated", the US has said the Narendra Modi government has been "slow" to match its rhetoric in economic reforms even as it appreciated measures taken by it in areas like bureaucracy and easing FDI restrictions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi - AFP

Highly appreciative of the series of economic reforms, in particular streamlining bureaucratic decision making and raising FDI limits in certain sectors, US State Department in a report said on Tuesday, the Modi government has been slow to propose other economic reforms that would match its rhetoric

Noting that many of the reforms it did propose have struggled to pass through Parliament, the report "Investment Climate Statements for 2016" said that this has resulted in many investors retreating slightly from their once forward-leaning support of the BJP-led government.

For example, the government failed to muster sufficient political support on a land acquisition bill in Parliament?all but ending its chance of passage in the near term?and is still negotiating with opposition parties the details of a Goods and Services Tax Bill, which if not watered down in negotiations, could streamline India's convoluted tax structure and provide an immediate boost to GDP.

"Ostensibly, India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, but this depressed investor sentiment suggests the approximately 7.